| Library / English Dictionary |
LATCH ON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Understand, usually after some initial difficulty
Example:
She didn't know what her classmates were plotting but finally caught on
Synonyms:
catch on; cotton on; get it; get onto; get wise; latch on; tumble; twig
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "latch on" is one way to...):
apprehend; compass; comprehend; dig; get the picture; grasp; grok; savvy (get the meaning of something)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Sense 2
Meaning:
Adopt
Example:
take up new ideas
Synonyms:
fasten on; hook on; latch on; seize on; take up
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "latch on" is one way to...):
adopt; embrace; espouse; sweep up (take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s PP
Sense 3
Meaning:
Take hold of or attach to
Example:
The biochip latches onto the genes
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "latch on" is one way to...):
grasp; hold on (hold firmly)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
